Blake Snell threw three innings in a simulated game at Papago Park in Phoenix on Sunday, an important step for the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner as he prepares for his first season with the black and orange.
Manager Bob Melvin said Monday that Snell will throw again in Arizona on Friday, either in a camp game at Papago Park or elsewhere. Asked about Snell’s workload for Friday, Melvin said the team hopes it would be “at least four innings and maybe try to get him up for the fifth. We’ll see how he feels leading up to that.”
Snell, who signed his two-year, $62 million deal on March 19 with Spring Training well underway, won't be ready for Opening Day as the Giants make their first turn through the rotation given Snell hasn’t built up for a starter's workload.
“We’ve talked all offseason about adding to the top of our rotation,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said during Snell’s introductory press conference on March 20. “It’s unusual for a deal like this to happen this late in the offseason, but we know Blake’s ready to go.”
With Snell unready for Opening Day, the Giants’ initial rotation stands to feature Logan Webb, the team’s starter on Day 1, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Mason Black. Spencer Howard was in the mix for the rotation, but the Giants reassigned the right-hander to Minor League camp on Saturday.
Looking ahead, if Snell only needs to pitch in one more simulated game, the left-hander could possibly make his season debut during the first week of April against the Dodgers on the road or against the Padres, his former club, during the Giants' first homestand of the season.
Regardless of whether Snell makes his debut against Los Angeles, San Diego or some other club, the Giants are happy that Snell's heart is in San Francisco.
“Everybody just got a shot of adrenaline,” Alex Cobb said of the signing.
“It obviously doesn't guarantee anything,” Mike Yastrzemski said, “but we’re happy to see the front office is really making a push to make this team the best we can be. That’s a great addition.”
Few would contest Yastrzemski's assessment. In 2023, Snell posted a 2.25 ERA with 234 strikeouts across 180 innings en route to winning the second Cy Young Award of his career, joining Roger Clemens, Max Scherzer, Roy Halladay, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Gaylord Perry as the only pitchers in Major League history to win the award in the American and National League.
Snell distanced himself from other Cy Young Award hopefuls -- a list that included runner-up Webb -- with a historic finish down the stretch. From July to September, Snell had a 1.35 ERA with 120 strikeouts across 93 innings. In his final six starts of the season, Snell allowed two earned runs across 38 innings (0.47 ERA), a stretch that included seven no-hit innings against the Dodgers to all but secure the award.
At full strength, the Giants, on paper, could feature one of baseball's deepest rotations, a unit that could push them into the postseason. In the second half, Melvin could roll out a starting five of:
• Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner
• Webb, who finished second to Snell in the Cy Young Award race
• Robbie Ray, the 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner who is recovering from Tommy John surgery
• Cobb, a 2023 National League All-Star who is recovering from left hip surgery
• Harrison, the best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline
Championships, of course, aren’t won on paper. For all that potential, concern looms. Snell led baseball in ERA, but he also led the Majors in walks allowed (99), an unsavory figure that signals Snell may be due for regression. Cobb and Ray are still recovering from injuries that required them to go under the knife. Harrison, 22, only has seven Major League starts under his belt.
Looking down the depth chart, Hicks doesn’t have an extensive history of starting in the Majors, appearing in 204 games as a reliever compared to eight games as a starter. Winn, who has only pitched in nine games, doesn’t have an extensive history in the Majors, period. Tristan Beck, a possibility for the Opening Day rotation, underwent surgery in early March due to an arm aneurysm.
Time will tell whether the rotation can fulfill its collective promise. That worry, though, is for another day. On this day, all that matters in San Francisco is that Snell is back to facing live competition, one step closer to pitching in games of substance.
-- Henry Schulman contributed to this story.